Canadian Tamil film to debut at Shanghai festival

Canadian Tamil film ‘A Gun & A Ring’ made by Lenin M. Sivam, an Eezham Tamil of Canada and a software architect by profession, has been nominated for the prestigious Golden Goblet Award, the highest prize awarded at the 16th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) in June, according to media reports. This is the second full-feature production of the largely self-made filmmaker whose first Tamil film ’1999′ was featured in the 2009 Vancouver International film Festival’s Canadian Images session. ’1999′ also won the “Midnight Sun” award at the Tamil Film Festival-2010 held at the Filmenshus Kino in Oslo, Norway in 2010.

Sivam, 39, was born in Jaffna and migrated to Canada in 1991.

The film "uses brilliantly interwoven montage of characters to explore the harsh realities faced by different generations of Canadian Eezham Tamils who try to re-build their lives in an adopted land, but are unable to let go of their past framed by violence, death and conflict in the island of Sri Lanka," said press reports on the origins of the story.

"To be picked up by a major film festival such as SIFF is recognition of our work and vision," Sivam said quoting in a statement. "Almost everyone who worked on it volunteered their time and resources to share an important story worth telling," he added.

SIFF is considered to be one of the top 10 film festivals in the world and it is recognized by International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF). Sivam’s film is one of 12 selected out of 1655 films from 112 countries to compete for the Golden Goblet award. Oscar award winner Tom Hooper has been named to lead the jury of 6 others to choose the winner, according to conference organizers.

Lenin Sivam’s earlier short films Iniyavarka’l (A Few Good People), U’ruthi (Strength) and Pakkaththiveedu (The Next Door) also touches the topic of challenges faced by the Tamil community in Toronto.